Rail fastening device



Oct. 9, 1951 A. R. SCHULZE RAIL FASTENING-DEVICE Filed June 5,. 1947 Her/we ,9. 5090125, 4 W;% W5 fliarmg Patented Oct. 9, 1951 RAIL FASTENING DEVICE Arthur R. Schulze, Westmont, Pa., assignor to United States Steel Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application June 5, 1947, Serial No. 752,777

. 1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a rail fastening device and more particularly to such a device for fastening a rail to a tie plate. The railroad tracks are subjected to extreme vibrations, noticeable deflections and a resulting wave motion due to the rapid change from no load to full load as the train travels over the track. It is desirable that the fastening means remain in position in spite of this vibration, but when simple conventional devices, such as bolts or cap screws are used in fastening the rail to the tie plates, the extreme and rapid vibration of the track structure under trafiic causes wear on the small contact surfaces with resultant rapid loosening of the assembled parts. Special devices have been resorted to with considerable success, but ordinarily they are relatively expensive and many of them are so constructed that the strength and bearing area of the tie plates are reduced.

It is an object of my invention to provide a rail fastening device which is inexpensive :and rugged in construction.

Another object is toprovide such a device which utilizes a standard tie plate without reducin'gv its strength.

Still another object is to provide such a device whichremains in place under extreme vibration of the' track.

These and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my device;

Figure 2 is an elevation;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line II I-III of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, but show ing a slightly different modification.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 2 indicates a standard tie plate which is mounted on a tie in the usual manner and which is provided with the usual rail seating portion 4 for receiving the flange 6 of the rail. Welded to the base plate 2 on each side of the rail between the seat portion 4 and the edge of the plate is an inverted J-member 8. The position of the member 8 is such that its top inner surface In is arranged at a slightly steeper angle than the top surface I2 of the rail base. The difference between the two angles may be termed a differential angle which is indicated as I4 in the drawings. This differential anglev M is preferably greater than the frictional angle between the spring clip l6 and the inverted member 8. The elongated spring clip l6 has a square cross-section and passes through an opening l8 in the member 8 with one end bearing on the tie plate 2 and the other end bearing on the rail surface l2. The outer end of the inverted J member 8 is bent slightly downwardly at I9 to hold the clip H5 in position. The clip 16 is provided with a shoulder 20 which limits inward movement of the clip 16 by contacting the outer surface of member 8. The ends 22 and 24 of the clip 16 are flattened where they bear on top of the rail fiange and on top of the tie plate 2 to provide greater contact areas. In assembly, the spring clips [6 are snapped under the member 8, in which position shoulder 20 prevents any inward movement of the clip toward the rail and the differential angle [4 prevents the clip I6 from backing out.

Figure 4 shows a slight modification of my invention in which an inverted substantially J-shaped member 26 is provided with a semicircular groove 28 for receiving a spring clip 30 which has a round cross section. Otherwise the two embodiments of the invention are the same.

While two embodiments of my invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A rail fastening device comprising a tie plate having a seat portion for the base of the rail, a single inverted substantially J-shaped member having a long leg secured to said tie plate at a point intermediate the seat portion and the edge of the plate and a short leg spaced from said long leg, said J-shaped member being arranged at an angle to the vertical with the underside thereof being arranged at a steeper angle than the top surface of the fiange of the rail, the angle of the underside of the J-shaped member being inclined in the same general direction as the top surface of the flange of the rail adjacent thereto, an elongated longitudinally bowed spring clip extending through said inverted J-shaped member and bearing against the underside thereof, the width of said clip being slightly less than the distance between said legs, the upper surface of said clip being longitudinally convex, the distance between the underside of the J-shaped member and the tie plate being greater than the thickness of the clip, one end of said clip bearing against the top of the rail flange and the other end bearing against the topuof the tie plate, the portion of said spring clip bearing against the underside of said inverted J-shaped member R 2,570,871 5 3 4 a being under compression and being arranged at REFERENCES CITED an angle at least as great as the the The following references are of record in the underside of the J-shaped member, the said confile of this patent;

vex portion of the spring clip being in contact with the J -shaped member in a manner to urge 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS said clip toward the rail under vibration, and a Number Name Date shoulder on the top part of said clip bearing 420,438 COX Feb. 4, 1890 against the outer part ofv the inverted J-shaped 1,379,531 Cooper et a1 May2'4, 1921 member to limit inward movement of the clip. 1,863,145 Young June 14, 1932 10 1,995,020 WOOdings Mar. 19, 1935 ARTHUR R. SCHULZE. 2,547,839 Schulze -1 Apr. 3, 1951 

